Three cheers for a very determined lady

You've got to hand it to the girl: solo yachtswoman Jeanne Socrates is doing amazingly well on her 173rd day away from humans, on her own.

Jeanne is down in the Roaring Forties, almost-roaring herself in her smart yacht Nereida, towards

Australia, south of Australia, and the notoriously stormy Great Australian Bight.

Look to the South, to where the sun is at noon, and very far that way plus a little to the left, there she is a few Southern Ocean swells (plus 7,100 miles) away.

It's easy to report that she has been at sea, on her own, for 173 days which is almost 25 weeks.

Rude awakenings

But then I think of all I have been doing in those 173 days, and invite you to weigh up much of what has monopolised your life since 3rd October last year.

Shopping, driving, walking, Christmas, New Years, being with friends, sleeping soundly without fear of a rude awakening - at least, most of the time, hopefully. Able to go to the doctor if necessary, with a hospital emergency ward usually nearby.

And for we in the Northern Hemisphere, that time includes Autumn, winter, really cold nights and freezing winds. Then, almost suddenly, the sun is back in our hemisphere, and signs of spring are springing up all around - daffs, poppies, blossoms, lawns reinvigorated, favourite shows in television, probably, perhaps even a film show.

However, for Jeanne, what has she seen in all that time? Only her smart yacht, and the sea, and the sky and day and night, and the occasional ocean dweller, feathered or scaled.

Continues on the blogs for my ocean adventuring book, Sailing to Purgatory, at http://sailingtopurgatory.com/index.php/feeds/368-three-cheers-for-a-very-determined-lady